Ursula von der Leyen promises ‘next week’ response to Kyiv’s desire to apply for EU membership

The European Commission will finalize “next week” his opinion on Ukraine’s ambitions to apply for membership of the European Union. That’s what he promisedhe President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on a surprise visit to kyiv on Saturday 11 June.

“We want to support Ukraine on its European journey”, said Ursula von der Leyen during a short press conference following her meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. She stressed that the Ukrainian authorities had “does a lot” for a candidacy, but that there is “still a lot to do”particularly in the fight against corruption.

Ukraine, a solid parliamentary democracy, was already on a good track before Russia invaded.

This war is an enormous stress test.
And the whole country is stepping up.

The same spirit is needed to reform and modernize the country.

And Europe is here to support you. pic.twitter.com/aGzqp5NNSN

—Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 11, 2022

Ukraine demands a “legal commitment” by the end of June on the part of Europeans to obtain official candidate status for entry into the EU. But the 27 remain at this stage very divided on the question. While many countries, mainly in Eastern Europe, support Ukraine’s membership, some like the Netherlands or Denmark, but also Germany and France, which chairs the EU until the end of June , are more reserved.

And even if Ukraine gets the “candidate status”, this will start a process of negotiations and potential reforms that could take years, if not decades, before it is on the verge of joining the EU. Several states of the European Union have thus showered kyiv’s hopes of a process “accelerated”.